Lidia Simões

Lidia Simões [Lydia Simões Prado] was born in Manaus (AM) in 1912, and began her piano studies as a child at the Joaquim Franco Musical School in the same city. In 1921, at the age of nine, she participated in one of the school's recitals, performing an Improvisation by Schubert. In the early 1920s, the family moved to São Paulo, where Lidia began studying at the Dramatic and Musical Conservatory, in the class of Victoria Serva Pimenta.

From 1923 onwards, São Paulo newspapers refer to Lidia's participation in small concerts, benefit recitals and festivals, performing works such as The Little White Donkey by Jacques Ibert; Murmurs in the Forest, La Campanella and Rhapsody No. 10 by Liszt; Polonaise Op. 44, Etudes Op. 25 No. 4, Op. 25 No. 5, Op. 25 No. 11, and 3rd Ballade, by Chopin; Waldstein Sonata Op. 53 by Beethoven; the Grand Triumphal Fantasy on the Brazilian National Anthem, by Gottschalk; La Jongleuse, by Moszkowski; Tambourin by Rameau (both in the original version and in Godowsky's transcription), and transcriptions such as Hopak (Mussorgsky-Rachmaninoff) and Turkish March from "The Ruins of Athens" (Beethoven-Rubinstein). Brazilian music did not yet appear frequently in his repertoire, being limited to a few pieces, such as Henrique Oswald's Improvisation. In 1925, she gave a solo recital in the hall of the Dramatic and Musical Conservatory – her interpretation of modern composers was praised by critics – and until 1929 she still appears as a student of the Conservatory, participating in recitals with Professor Pimenta's class. She married Agenor Prado probably in the early 1930s, and they had two children: Octavio Simões Prado, and Maria Lucia Simões Prado (1932).

In 1934, she participated in a lecture by Professor Caldeira Filho in the hall of the Metropolitan Curia in São Paulo, performing one of Chopin's ballads (the lecture was dedicated to the four ballads, each performed by a different pianist).

It is recorded that she was a student of Joseph Kliass, probably after graduating from the piano course in the 1930s.

And, probably in the early 1940s, she attended classes in advanced theory and musical aesthetics taught by Camargo Guarnieri. Contact with Guarnieri represented a milestone in Lidia's career, and in the following years she went on to specialize in the work of this composer, performing several world premieres. Newspapers even referred to her as Guarnieri's "title interpreter," and he would dedicate the following works to her: Waltz No. 4 (1943), Piano Concerto No. 2 (1946), Dança Negra (1946), Ponteio No. 13 (1948), Study No. 3 (1949), and Variations on a Northeastern Theme for Piano and Orchestra (1953). In 1944, she performed Guarnieri's Concerto No. 1 as a soloist at the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro (TMRJ), conducted by the composer himself, and in 1945, she repeated this concerto in Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile, also conducted by Guarnieri (a non-commercial recording of the performance in Chile was made, and the reel-to-reel tape is deposited at the University of Texas).

In 1946, at the Municipal Theater of São Paulo (TMSP), she performed Guarnieri's Toccata, and in the same recital, she gave the first performances of several of the composer's pieces: Choro Torturado, Lundu, Sonatina No.

3, and the now-famous Dança Negra. Other pieces by Guarnieri that were part of Lidia's repertoire at this time were Waltz No. 5 and Dança Brasileira. In 1947, she gave the world premiere of Guarnieri's Piano Concerto No. 2 in New York with the CBS Orchestra under the composer's direction, and performed this concerto again as a soloist at the TMSP in the same year, and at the TMRJ two years later, also under Guarnieri's direction.

In 1949, in Rio de Janeiro, she won second place in the "Chopin Recording Competition" (on the occasion of the Polish composer's centenary), sponsored by the Correio da Manhã newspaper and promoted by the Continental record label.

Twenty-nine pianists participated in the competition, making non-commercial recordings of Chopin's 4th Ballade exclusively for the occasion (at the time, in 78 RPM) – pianist Lucy Salles won first place. The judges were Fructuoso Vianna, Andrade Muricy, and Ayres de Andrade. In 1950, he performed Gershwin's Concerto in F at the TMRJ (Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro), with an orchestra conducted by Lamberto Baldi, and in 1954, he gave the first performance of Guarnieri's Variations on a Northeastern Theme, conducted by Nino Stinco, also at the TMRJ, presenting them at the TMSP (Teatro Municipal do São Paulo) in the same year.

In 1956, he recorded his only record, with the works Sonatina No.

3, Studies No. 1 and No. 3, Waltz No. 4, Ponteio No. 19 and Choro Torturado, all by Guarnieri. The LP was titled "Brazilian Music Vol. 5" (Sinter SLP-5), and was produced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in partnership with Rádio MEC.

In 1963, he performed Schumann's Concerto at the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro, with an orchestra conducted by Souza Lima, and repeated the concert that same year at the TV Tupi Theater in São Paulo, as part of the program "Música Sempre Música" (Music Always Music), presented by Heitor de Andrade, with an orchestra conducted by maestro Bernardo Federowski.

After 1963, no further references to his career are found, and he passed away in 1985.